Built in 1917 by the James Robertson Shipyard in Benicia, California, La Merced is historically significant as a rare surviving example of a wooden-hulled, four-masted auxiliary schooner. Constructed during the World War I maritime shipping boom, the vessel represents the apex and final era of commercial wooden shipbuilding on the Pacific Coast. La Merced was originally designed to carry timber and was equipped with twin auxiliary propeller engines to help navigate the challenging coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest and California. Throughout her active career, she transitioned from the regional timber trade to serving as a floating cannery and transport vessel for the Alaskan salmon industry, reflecting the major maritime economic drivers of the early-to-mid 20th century.

In 1965, after being retired from active service and stripped of her machinery and rigging, the hull of La Merced was purchased and moved to Anacortes, Washington, to serve as a breakwater for Lovric's Shipyard. Today, she remains permanently grounded in the Guemes Channel, filled with sand and rock. Despite her weathered state and the growth of a prominent grove of trees on her deck, the vessel's massive wooden timbers remain remarkably defined, offering a tangible link to the region's rich maritime heritage. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, La Merced stands as both a monument to the Pacific Coast's wooden shipbuilding industry and a beloved, evocative landmark of Skagit County.

The W. T. Preston is a highly significant steam-powered, sternwheel snagboat that played a critical role in the maritime history and economic development of the Puget Sound region. Built in 1929 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and named after the district's first civilian engineer, the vessel was tasked with the vital mission of removing "snags"-sunken logs, stumps, and other hazardous debris-that threatened river navigation and commercial shipping. For over fifty years, the Preston patrolled the waters of Puget Sound and its major tributaries, including the Skagit, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, and Nooksack rivers. By keeping these aquatic highways clear, the snagboat facilitated the safe transport of timber, agricultural goods, and passengers, which was essential to the growth and prosperity of western Washington's early communities.

Technologically, the W. T. Preston represents a rare surviving example of a specialized sternwheel utility vessel once common on Western rivers. Although originally built with a wooden hull, she was rebuilt with a steel hull in 1939, while retaining her historic steam-driven machinery and a massive forward-mounted derrick used to hoist multi-ton logs out of the waterways. When she was retired from active service in 1981, she was the last working sternwheel snagboat in Puget Sound and one of only a few remaining in the entire United States. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, the W. T. Preston is now permanently dry-docked as a museum ship in Anacortes, Washington, where she serves as a prominent educational monument to the region's reliance on riverine commerce and the engineering legacy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.